It was a strange game at Croke Park on Sunday. Dublin were clearly the better team. They beat Kerry by 11 points.
However, on the score board, the disparity in performance did not become apparent until after Aidan O'Mahony was sent off by Eddie Kinsella. Even then, 15 minutes after the 35-year-old saw red, Kerry were still within a point of the All-Ireland champions.
In the end, it was a humiliation for the Kingdom as Dublin claimed their fourth consecutive National League title. Despite remaining within touching distance, it was a game which they never looked like winning.
Kerry's performance and the marker which Dublin set provoked both anger and concern in Tomás Ó Sé.
The anger was regarding Kerry's capitulation. The concern was regarding the growing gap between Dublin and the rest of the county.
Writing in his Irish Independent column, the five-time All-Ireland winner did not spare the whip in criticising his fellow Kerrymen.
His brother Marc, long-time teammates Aidan O'Mahony and Brendan Kealy, and Fionn Fitzgerald all received sharp words from Ó Sé.
The dismissal was foolish on Aidan's part, but he's been sailing close to the wind too often in my view. I know he's a bit of a marked man, but what he did was ridiculous, basically ending the game.
I thought Brendan Kealey was having a howler on his kick-outs long before he spooned one to Paul Flynn for Dublin's opening goal.
Defensively, we tried to do our best, but my brother Marc wasn't at the races, Mahony wasn't at the races, Fionn Fitzgerald wasn't at the races.
We're playing Mahony as a sweeper and I don't think he's the man for that role. The system might work against 30 other counties, but it's against the Dubs you'll ultimately get measured.
And, against them, it's not fit for purpose.
Pictiúr: Piaras Ó Mídheach / SPORTSFILE
